Weather Patterns

The following is my current planned itinerary as outlined in older posts (click the Itinerary label to see them in detail) and the worst times to travel in terms of rainfall and high heat. A detailed explanation of what to look for in weather when traveling is outlined in the previous post. All temperatures are given as the average high. I am getting lucky in that my schedule will potentially avoid the worst in almost all the countries and have fairly consistent 80 degree weather, data from weather.com (Click city name for detailed history):


Japan (mid August-mid September): in Tokyo
Average temp in the low to mid 80's °F and rainfall of 6-7 inches.
Historically high temps in the 80's from July - September, lows in the high 40s December - February
Historically rainfall above 5-7 inches June to October

China (mid September- mid October): in Beijing
Average temp in the mid 60's to mid 70's °F and rainfall of under 2 inches.
Historically high temps in the 80's from July - September, lows in the mid 30s December - February
Rainfall at 7 inches in July and August and below 2 the rest of the year

Hong Kong and Macao (early October):
Average temp in the high 80s and rainfall at about 5 inches
Historically temps are always 75-90 year round
6 inches of rain in April and October with practically none the rest of the year


Vietnam (mid-October to early November): in Ho Chi Minh City
Temperatures in the high 80s and rainfall dropping from 10 inches to 5 inches
Historically temps are consistent at high 80s/low 90s.
8-12 inches of rain May to October and less than 2 from December to April

Cambodia (mid November): in Phnom Penh
Temperatures in the mid 80s and rainfall at about 5 inches.
Historically temps are high 80s/low 90s (seeing a trend here?)
Above 5 inches of rain May to November with about 9-10 in September and October

Thailand (late November to late December): in Bangkok
Temperatures in the high 80s and rainfall less than 2 inches.
Would you be surprised if I said it was almost always 90 on average the whole year?
7-10 inches of rain from May to October and about 12 in September

Malaysia (late December): in Kuala Lumpur
Temperatures in the high 80s and rainfall at about 9 inches
Historical average is 90 degrees all year
Rainfall is 5-10 inches all year round, with highest in March, April, and October - December

Note there are two monsoon seasons that affect peninsular Malaysia, one on the West and one on the East and they come at different times. Not really easy to avoid this one if you plan to see both! Kuala Lumpur is centrally located and the coasts get affected worse on rainfall.

Singapore (early January):
Temperatures in the high 80s and rainfall at about 8 inches
Historical average is 85 all year and rainfall is around 6-8 inches all year

Indonesia (early January - early February): in Bali
Temperatures at mid 80s and rainfall at about 11-13 inches
Historical averages mid 80s all year and under 4 inches April to October, 6-8 in Nov and March, and above 10 the rest.

India (early February - late March split around Nepal): in Delhi
Temperatures in the mid 70s in February and mid 80s in March
Historical temps in the low 70s to low 80s November to March, 90-100 the rest of the year
Rainfall insignificant October til June with July and August getting above 9 inches

Nepal (mid February - mid March): in Kathmandu
Temperatures in the mid 70s with negligible rainfall
Historical temps in the mid 80s from April - September and dropping to the 60s over December-February
Each season brings different things to see while trekking, but everyone seems to agree going in March-May is best to avoid monsoon season in late May where rainfall picks up quickly topping out near 20 inches in August!

Brazil (early April): in Rio de Janeiro
Temperatures in the mid 80s and rainfall at about 5 inches
Historical temperatures in the high 70s low 80s all year, and rainfall consistent 2-4 inches year round with about 7 in December

Argentina (late April): in Buenos Aires (top), and El Calafate/Patagonia (bottom)
Temperatures in the low 70s dropping to the high 60s (my favorite temperatures) and rainfall at about 3 inches.
Historical temperatures in the 80s in Nov. to February and low 60s May to August

Temperatures in the mid 40s and under 1 inch of rain
Historical temperatures in the low 60s in Nov. to February and mid to low 40s May to August (not cold for me! hooray!)
Rainfall is practically zero.

Chile (early May): in Santiago
Temperatures in the low-60s and rainfall at about 2 inches
Historical temperatures are mid 80s Nov. to February and High 50s / Low 60s in May - September
Highest rainfall occurs in July at 3 inches with nominal the rest of the year

Peru (late May - early June): in Lima
Temperatures in the low 70s and nominal rain
Historical temps in high 60s (June-August) to low 80s (Nov.-February) with almost no rain

Mexico (mid June): in Cancun
Temperatures in the high 80s and rain at about 2 inches
Historical temps always 80-90s with rain highest in October and November at around 7 inches

As you can tell from the temperatures at the dates I am going I am unable to avoid getting a monsoon season, will be in for rain bursts throughout Indonesia, and will see pretty consistent 80 degree weather (hooray for skipping winter for one full year). I think I prefer it to rain most in Indonesia over the other countries, you almost expect it to do that when you are out on a large island in the ocean. One thing about traveling overland that is nice is that if it rains, well, I can stay another day if the weather is going to clear up or move to somewhere that is supposed to be sunny instead. This works out well in Malaysia and lower Thailand where things are close together and trains cheap.

Hopefully this gives you another an idea of what to expect and another thing to think about when scheduling a huge journey. Don't let your dream be ruined by weather when you can avoid the rough parts!